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Gun Assault Rates Doubled for Children in 4 Major Cities During the Pandemic, New Data Shows

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by Sammy Caiola, WHYY
Thu, 04 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Rates of gun assaults on children roughly doubled during the covid-19 pandemic, according to a study that looked at gun deaths and injuries in four major cities. Black children were the most frequent victims.

A wider analysis from Boston University included a review of gun assaults between mid-March 2020 and December 2021 in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York. It found that Black children were 100 times as likely as white children to be victims of fatal and nonfatal shootings. Pre-pandemic, they were 27 times as likely. Researchers excluded accidental shootings and incidents of self-harm.

Study author Jonathan Jay, who studies urban health, said the team looked at the rates to understand whether some children were at higher risk than others.

“We knew that children of color, even before the pandemic, were more likely than non-Hispanic white children to be shot, and we also knew that child gun victimization seemed to be increasing during the pandemic,” Jay said. “But no one had looked at how racial disparities in child victimization might have been changing.”

The researchers are still unpacking pandemic-specific factors that may have driven the change, he said. Some of the influences they’re considering include “stress associated with job losses, school closures, loss of access to certain kinds of services that closed down,” he said. “Also, really visible police violence, especially against people of color. Loss of loved ones and family members to covid-19 virus.”

As a Black teen in Philadelphia, Makhi Hemphill regularly thinks about the threat of gunfire, he said. The 16-year-old grew up in North Philly, an area that has seen roughly two dozen gun homicides this year and many more gun injuries.

He said he pays close attention to his surroundings when outside.

“I still have the thought in the back of my head to protect myself, ’cause of how this world is currently,” he said. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to me, and my mother doesn’t want anything bad to happen to me either.”

Philadelphia’s child gun assault rate jumped from about 30 per 100,000 children to about 62 per 100,000 during the pandemic.

Makhi said he thinks some teenagers argued with one another during the covid pandemic because they were spending too much time on social media and, for some, frustration and isolation led to violent behavior.

“People are at home, maybe their home is not their safe place,” he said. “They didn’t have that escape because they couldn’t leave home. So maybe they had a break or something like that.”

In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death for American children, surpassing car crashes for the first time in decades, according to the CDC.

The National Institutes of Health estimates that 16.6 million U.S. adults purchased a gun in 2020, up from 13.8 million in 2019, according to an NIH analysis of the National Firearms Survey.

“With covid, we’ve seen an increase in gun purchases and more guns in the home,” said Joel Fein, a physician and co-director of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Violence Prevention. “So [children] were in places where there were now more guns, and probably more guns on the streets as well.”

In late March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing there were 36% more average weekly emergency department visits for firearm injuries in 2021 than in 2019, with the largest increase among children 14 and younger.

Chethan Sathya, a trauma surgeon and the director of Northwell Health’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention, said its children’s hospital has seen a 350% increase in gunshot patients in the past year.

He said the data that’s emerging on child gun deaths should be a clear call to policymakers.

“Violence intervention groups are doing really great work,” he said. “These studies highlight that they’re needed more than ever. [Gun violence] disproportionately does affect and has affected Black kids, and it’s horrific. So how can we step up as a community to address the root causes?”

Within the hospital where he works in Queens, New York, Sathya said, prevention starts with asking all patients screening questions about firearm access and risk factors, and providing trauma-informed services to violently injured patients.

Kaliek Hayes, founder of a Philadelphia nonprofit called the Childhoods Lost Foundation, said he and other community leaders in neighborhoods where gun violence is prevalent are trying to reach children early so they don’t get swept up in the crisis.

That means connecting them to a network of after-school mentorship programs, athletic and arts opportunities, and career prep offerings.

“If we err on the side of getting in front of it before it happens, a lot of the numbers we’re seeing would be different,” Hayes said.

This article is part of a partnership that includes WHYY, NPR, and KFF Health News.

By: Sammy Caiola, WHYY
Title: Gun Assault Rates Doubled for Children in 4 Major Cities During the Pandemic, New Data Shows
Sourced From: kffhealthnews.org/news/article/children-gun-assault-rates-during-pandemic-urban-data-study/
Published Date: Thu, 04 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000

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Kaiser Health News

Readers Embrace ‘Going It Alone’ Series on Aging and Chastise Makers of Pulse Oximeters

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kffhealthnews.org – – 2024-11-22 04:00:00

SUMMARY: Letters to the Editor discuss various healthcare concerns. Gail Daniels shares her struggles caring for a mother with dementia, while Shava Nerad reflects on the challenges faced by those without family support. Gloria Rankin suggests using pen pals to combat social isolation. Zoe Joyner Danielson recalls racial bias in pulse oximeter development, while Suzann Lebda questions fluoride’s impact on dental health. Readers also address issues like Medicare Advantage, high drug costs for seniors, and the financial burden of prepaying for baby deliveries. Liviu Steier advocates for fluorescence in dental care, emphasizing its diagnostic benefits.

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Kaiser Health News

Georgians With Disabilities Are Still Being Institutionalized, Despite Federal Oversight

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kffhealthnews.org – Sam Whitehead – 2024-11-22 04:00:00

SUMMARY: Lloyd Mills, a 32-year-old with autism, cerebral palsy, and kidney disease, has faced prolonged hospitalization due to inadequate community support in Georgia. After being admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital for mental health issues, Mills waited over eight months for appropriate housing, highlighting the systemic failures of a state still grappling with the consequences of a 2010 Department of Justice lawsuit regarding care for people with developmental disabilities. Despite significant investments and improvements in services, challenges like workforce shortages and inadequate funding persist, often leaving individuals like Mills in hospitals, impacting their mental and physical well-being.

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Kaiser Health News

TV’s Dr. Oz Invested in Businesses Regulated by Agency Trump Wants Him To Lead

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kffhealthnews.org – Darius Tahir – 2024-11-21 18:01:00

SUMMARY: President-elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Oz, known for his investments in healthcare, tech, and food companies, holds significant stakes in UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Amazon, and other companies involved in health insurance and pharmaceuticals, raising potential conflicts of interest. His financial ties include hospital stocks and pharmaceutical investments. Oz has expressed support for Medicare Advantage and criticized the food and healthcare industries. Critics question whether Oz can separate his financial interests from his role, particularly with companies doing business with the federal government.

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